My wife handstamped and crafted birthday cards, sending them to a shelter in Gadsden, Alabama, USA, to support dosomething.org’s gift to https://www.kiva.org/register/freetrial.
You can too!
Author Archives: treetrunkrick
Two kids practice
While waiting for today’s lesson with Abi, here’s the last shot my wife made of our lesson with Jenn last night:
Valley Girl
Guin and Bai stood on a small rise, waiting for Eoj to join them.
Guin hefted a small boulder in her hand.
“How far do you think I can throw this?”
Bai picked up a small rock and threw it twenty or thirty meters with no effort.
Eoj walked up behind Guin. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”
Bai nodded at Guin’s arm. “She’s got a crazy idea.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?”
Guin tossed the boulder in the air. “You know, I used to throw shotput, discus and javelin.”
Eoj laughed. “In this century?”
Guin smiled. “Who’s counting?”
Eoj looked at Bai. “What hasn’t this woman done?”
“I also competed at the pole vault and long relay. Very occasionally they would throw me in a short relay.”
Eoj snorted. “And here I am, sucking in my breath after running a few kilometers to catch up with you guys.”
Guin kicked small rocks out from a small circle. She made a few test turns, seeing if she still had her perfect throwing moves in her memory. “Throwing and polevaulting — there are serious ramifications if you move your body the wrong way.”
Eoj laughed again. “Bai, I think you and I ought to throw a few rocks ourselves. If we can dance as well as Guin, we can do whatever else she does just as well, right?”
Bai looked from Guin to Eoj and back. “He’s never seen you throw, has he?”
Guin shook her head. “No, but you’ve never seen him throw me in the air, either.”
Guin motioned Bai and and Eoj back a few paces.
She steadied her breathing, set her feet and took three steps, launching the boulder from her body’s core, through her shoulder and out of her hand like a hydraulic jack hammer punching the air.
The boulder’s arc was like a low altitude sounding rocket’s path, an ideal unimpeded trajectory in the thin atmosphere.
Several seconds later, a puff of Martian dust, then another and another indicated a few thousand meters away the boulder bouncing on the other side of the valley.
Guin smacked her hands together as if she was cleaning them of dust. “Not bad, if I say so myself!”
Bai looked at Eoj. “You think you can throw her that far?”
Guin snapped her head around. “Now, wait a minute!”
Eoj grabbed Guin around the waist. “Hey, it’s worth a try.” He tossed her ten meters in the air and caught her.
He set her down and they laughed together. “Ready?”
They started a slow jog, pacing themselves for a run down the valley and back around to the lab.
Eoj had the afternoon off before he had to return to the tourists and wanted to warm up with Guin and Bai before they put in some dance practice for the finale performance the last night of the tourists’ stay on the Red Planet.
Kickstarter Update #3
As promised, here’s the latest update from our Kickstarter Xceed Xpectations project tentatively named “All Sols Day.”
Today, let’s take a look at a couple of the early prototype bumper stickers the Creative Arts department crafted to get their imaginations going…
We can’t wait to get this party started. As soon as the next batch of art is ready, we’ll post it here for your perusal.
Have a peaceful sol!
Tomorrow, a tale on Mars, illustrated
While our Creative Arts department puts away its propaganda material, preparing for morning sketches, let us look at sports that don’t often see the limelight.
And here’s the image du jour…
Well, before I post it, a little background. You see, after talking with Jenn tonight, we’ve decided to change our outfits for the showcase dance. I said I was going as a punk rock Big Bird, meaning she could go as her favorite character, Oscar the Grouch:
But then…well, the craziness kicked in. She’s going to dare me to dress as a sexy Big Bird, I know it, so I better dare her to dress as a sexy Oscar the Grouch first! We’ll see who wins the “best costume” contest — me as a drag queen Big Bird or her as a hot Oscar!
Life is short — wear fur and big feet, eat dessert later!
OBB::Welcome
A six-foot photo
Past a pasta palace
Thanks to Charlie and crew at Tellini’s; Traci, James and Jenn at Madison Ballroom.
Yeah, that was me in the 1990s
I’m jealous of the younger me!:
Found in my father’s papers
My father was an adjunct professor for over two decades and enjoyed learning from his students as much as he enjoyed teaching them. One of his students shared his cultural/religious/scientific view with my father via a report — interesting to think about as we debate military action in and around Syria:
treetrunkdings 